The Crew

Welcome to The Same Coin! Meet the crew

Chris ‘Stabby’ Jellyman

Writing this bio reminded me of the opening line from the movie Goodfellas. Ray Liotta’s character says “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Don’t worry, I didn’t want to be a gangster, but as far back as I can remember, I always wanted to play games. My gaming history spans 30 years. The start of my video gaming journey began with a pong machine. After that I remember my dad coming home with a shiny Spectrum 48k home computer. That’s where my love of playing games really took off. The first game I played on that wonderful machine was Hungry Horace. This Pac Man clone kept me entertained for hours. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure what Horace was supposed to be. After that, games like Beach Head, Atic Atac, Commando, Way of the Exploding Fist, Saboteur and Jet Set Willy were played and replayed. I never did get Willy back to his bed. Maria always beat me. It was in the mid 80’s that I got my first console. The Sega Master System. I still remember how vivid the colours looked on this 8 bit beauty after years of my faithful Speccy. Completing one of favourite games, Wonderboy 3: The Dragons Trap and watching the end credits is a memory that remains with me even today. My next love was the Super Nintendo. I can still recall playing Street Fighter 2 for the first time. I’m sat on my bedroom floor hooking up my brand new console and attempting my first Hadouken with the superb SNES controller. Like Fordie, I had an Amiga 500 and this seemed like a slightly more grown up machine, even though all I did was play games on it. Superb titles such as Super Cars 2, Moonstone, Kick Off 2 and Cannon Fodder kept me entertained for months and months. I can still remember the catchy tune from Cannon Fodder. My love of games and consoles has maintained throughout my childhood and now my adult life. I can’t remember a time when I haven’t played video games. I’ve been lucky enough to own every major console and experience the good, bad and ugly that they have to offer. That’s the thing for me. Games provide so many lasting memories and that is why I love playing them. Games like Journey and Gears of War offer very different experiences but leave lasting memories. Taking down my first Scarab with a friend in Halo 3 is a memory that will remain with me for a long time. I’m a keen retro fan because I want to relive the memories that brought me so much happiness. I’m not a fanboy and don’t favour one company over another. My love of games spans all consoles. I sound like a hippy now. Groovy baby! I’m keen to see where the next generation of gaming takes us and I hope to experience new and exciting times.

Adam ‘Parry’ Parry

My personal bondage cavern aside, it was the first time I touched those rubber Spectrum 48k keys at a friend’s house at the tender, and somewhat covered in snot and scabs, age of five. I touched those squashy little pleasure nubs and something happened on the TV, I was in control and it felt amazing.

Or so I thought. That moment ignited the gamer in me and as it turns out, gaming has had control of me ever since. Not that I am a drooling, slithering game addict by the way, just that gaming is an important part of who I am.

I grew up spending many a proper size 10 pence pieces in strange smelling arcades playing many classic games too numerous to mention. At home as I grew in stature and body hair I quaffed my way through the ZX Spectrum 128k, had to better than my friend right? And my much beloved Amiga 500+, I probably spent far too long playing the wonderful games these systems offered but I don’t regret a minute.

Where are the consoles you ask? Well like many of my age you had to convince your parents that you needed a computer for school work and it wasn’t just for playing games.

Obviously this was a lie; nay a smidgen of homework ever touched either of my first computers.

Once I was old enough to earn money by selling ham door to door or whittling wooden spoons then I entered the console market.

So after the Game Boy, PS1, GameCube, Xbox, DS, PS2 and Xbox360 I find myself here today. Sure I may be greyer, girthier and somewhat grumpier but I still love gaming. My PS4 and Vita are essential life kit to me.

While we may dwell on the state of gaming, the DLC, micro transactions and the looming turd of free to play mobile gaming let’s not forget we are currently enjoying the widest plethora of different games we have ever had.

While old duffers such as me remember the times before the free to play wallet killing tendencies of today’s gaming dark side it can never take over completely. We need to teach the new generation what came before, there is now a heritage to gaming and we need to pass it on.

Join me brethren as we march forward, providing my old creaking knees can take it.

Dits ‘PC Boy’

Never really had much of a chance, one of my first memories at the age of 4 was being shown a strange grey box called a Vic20, little did I know then that my whole world would change. I have followed video games for most of my life, it’s strange I can’t really imagine a time without gaming. It has been my hobby and my love for as long as I can remember. Growing up on the seafront, arcades also played a big part in my gaming education, sadly something that kids today will never experience. The social aspect of gaming was very different then, none of this internet rubbish. It was 2ltrs of White Lightning and 8 player Daytona! I have always been interested in the industry from the old days of reading Zzap64 to now reading sites like N4G daily and listening to countless podcasts. I always want to learn more about the industry and have the same silly dream as many as to hopefully one day become part of it. I have a rather unhealthy obsession with those time sinks called MMORPG’s and have probably played most of them since Anarchy Online which I’m not sure I should be proud of! I always love to see what games technology can do next and can’t wait for new console generations to come about just to see just what we can achieve through the greatest form of entertainment on the planet. This is probably why I am such a PC nerd! 🙂 I will be gaming when I am old and grey and can’t wait for the games that we’re going to play on the way!